posted by RJ Johnson - @rickerthewriter -

Dec 5, 2018

Parents and children in Cape Coral, Florida were forced to deal with a real-life Grinch at a Christmas celebration on Tuesday night.

Bystanders at the event in downtown Cape Coral recorded video of a man who decided the best way to spend his Tuesday night was by holding a giant sign at the city's annual Festival of Lights and yell at children that their parents are lying to them about Santa Claus and that "There's no Santa Claus" for hours.

According to WBBH-TV, the man positioned himself next to the line where children were waiting to see Santa Claus, leaving many of them in tears.

Cindy Menkes, of Cape Coral told the TV station that she felt sorry for the man and that "he must have a very sad life. I think it’s a shame our children are faced with so many difficult things in this world that the magic of this time of year, it's taken away from them, and they are innocent."

"There’s no sense of decency with those kinds of individuals," she added. "I think unfortunately you are going to have people who just want to spoil it for everyone"

The Festival of Lights in Cape Coral can attract up to 20,000 people, who are there to "bring in the holiday season" according to the event's website.

Police officers at the event say they couldn't do anything about the man's impromptu demonstration, saying that the man was exercising his right to free speech. Police said they could only intervene if he had been using a megaphone, or inciting a riot, which he wasn't doing.

That's not the only person who decided it was their job to talk about Santa. A substitute teacher at a New York School was criticized earlier this week for telling a classroom of first grade students that Santa Claus and other characters like the Tooth Fairy and Easter Bunny, don't exist. The principal of Cedar Hill School, Michael Raj, apologized in a letter sent to parents following the incident.